By Natsu Hyuuga and Touko Shino. Released in Japan as “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

Ah, nothing like another review where I can’t talk about half of what I want to because it would spoil. I know that half the time my reviews spoil the entire book anyway, but there are very good plot twists here, and I don’t really want to give them away. As such, I will simply say that I am looking back on some comments I made in my review of the third volume and laughing hollowly. Other than that, well, this particular volume is taking care to wrap up all the plotlines that have been dangling since it began. Jinshi’s identity and why he’s hiding it, Maomao’s friendship with Xiaolan and Shisui, and the long-standing question of who will be Empress are all dealt with here, and we even get a few action scenes towards the end and some chilling torture… well, it would be chilling were it not Maomao, who does have the ability to be terrified, but not when the danger is this pathetic.

After the events of the last book Maomao has been studiously avoiding Jinshi and trying not to think about what she found when she accidentally groped him. She’s back with Gyokuyou, who is quite pregnant. That said, the pregnancy may be an issue, as all signs are that the baby wants to come out the wrong way around. This means they need an expert, which brings Maomao’s adopted father to the rear palace. Elsewhere, Maomao may have found her new calling in body hair removal, and Maomao the kitten is busy getting up to no good. However, things take a far more serious turn in the second half of the book when Maomao attempts to sleuth on her own about various lingering mysteries from the previous books… and ends up kidnapped! Can she manage to get back to the rear palace, and if she does will she get punished anyway? And what’s with our favorite bug-loving maid?

As of this review, there are 11 volumes of The Apothecary Diaries out in Japan, so the series isn’t ending. But this certainly feels like a good stopping place. By the end of the book most of the subplots have been resolved, Jinshi has been forced to stop hiding, and, as Maomao herself puts it, with Gyokuyou now being Empress Maomao is out of a job. The romance is not really resolved, but then it’s hard to imagine how it COULD resolve – leaving aside status issues, which can easily be taken care of if Maomao acknowledges who her birth father is, there’s the fact that Maomao is seemingly apathetic about it. I think she has repressed desire for Jinshi, no question, but I think the idea of being a consort, bride, wife, whatever you call it galls her. No doubt it galls the reader too, who would much rather watch Mao wander around playing Murder, She Wrote.

So the question now is, what needs to happen to get Maomao back to the rear palace, because I’m pretty sure the rest of the series is not going to involve her sitting in her apothecary shop in the pleasure district. Can’t wait to find out, because this is one of the best written light novels coming out right now.

By Natsu Hyuuga and Touko Shino. Released in Japan as “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

One of the enjoyable things about the Apothecary Diaries is that, while it will always be about the relationship between Maomao and Jinshi to a degree, if you’re completely uninterested in that sort of thing there’s still a whole lot to get out of every volume. There are the mysteries, of course, as everyone and their brother wants Maomao to apply her cunning and figure out Who’s Killin’ Who. There is Maomao herself, who has an idea of what social niceties and graces are and has decided to tell them “no thank you”. And there’s an increasingly fun cast, including the amusingly carefree Xiaolan, who spends most of the novel learning to read – and unlike what most books of this sort would do, she proves to be pretty good at it once given proper education. And then there’s Shisui, who is my new Best Girl, and is basically to bugs what Maomao is to poisons. It’s tough to be so eccentric that Maomao is mistaken for you, but this girl can pull it off.

When Maomao is not busy snarking at Jinshi or “the quack doctor”, she is helping Jinshi to try to educate the people in the rear palace, discovers a cat that is quickly named after her (sort of), deals with a caravan that is selling all the ladies fragrant perfumes… some of which are potentially dangerous; trying to solve a recent disappearance that turns into a not-so-recent murder; figures out how a sheltered young woman snuck past her guards and got pregnant; discovers that the issues surrounding Consort Lihua, which is what started this series off, have not vanished; and ends up going on a hunting trip with a disguised Jinshi, which ends up turning far more dangerous than either of them had anticipated.

As I said last time, the series rewards close reading, and having prior volumes on hand. There are several pregnancies in this book, and several chapters dealing with people who are trying their hardest to make sure that those pregnancies are unsuccessful… or are they? It *could* just all be a coincidence. On the lighter side, for those who ARE reading the book for the relationship between Maomao and Jinshi, the last quarter of the book is pure gold. Something we had long suspected is finally straight up admitted, and you will never be able to see the words “decently sized amphibian” again without laughing. Maomao herself seems more determined than ever to avoid going anywhere near this – she’s very aware of how Jinshi feels, what it would mean for her future, and how she really does NOT want to deal with it. Even if she does go gaga when he gives her the right present.

So yes, this remains essential reading provided you don’t mind that it’s got the Emperor and his many consorts, or that the heroine (not one of the consorts) can kill a man with her sharp tongue at 500 yards.)

By Natsu Hyuuga and Touko Shino. Released in Japan as “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

The second volume in the series serves to give readers who loved the first book more of what they loved. Maomao solves some mysteries, glares at her not-love interest, kvells over any poison she can possibly ingest, and manages to upend the entirety of the Emperor’s palace. And this doesn’t even count her new job she gains in this volume, which is teaching very specific subjects to the four high consorts. Or scoping out a soldier’s chances at winning over a woman he likes as if he was a stud horse. Or helping to resolve the issue of an inheritance… an inheritance that also finds itself coming up over and over again throughout the book. Folks have compared this to Ascendance of a Bookworm, and they share one big thing in common, which is that they reward a reader who pays close attention to things and remembers prior events. You get the feeling that Maomao will be going places over the course of this series, though I suspect she may go to these places kicking and screaming.

After the events at the end of the last book, Maomao is now back at the palace, working for Jinshi officially by cleaning his rooms and such, and unofficially by solving crimes, though she always has to be bribed or goaded into doing so. Sometimes she doesn’t even need to be dragged – when a fire with a supposed unknown cause is mentioned, she’s quick to bolt over to the site looking for clues. And sometimes she absolutely refuses, such as when it’s anything to do with Lakan, the eccentric military man who’s been hanging around Jinshi lately and who seems to want to meet Maomao come rain or come shine. Who he is is easily guessed, but the relationship between them proves surprisingly nuanced, and even Maomao, whose glare can kill tigers at 400 yards, can occasionally display a soft side.

This series is not meant to be a comedy… except it’s frequently absolutely hilarious. We don’t get the specifics of Maomao’s “education” class for the consorts, but their reactions show what it must have been like, and the fact that she occasionally provides them the equivalent of Amanda Quick novels as bribes later on is even better. Then there’s the goofy soldier Lihaku, who Maomao tends to think of as a dog, and who has a crush on one of the three princesses at the establishment Maomao grew up around, and asks what it might take to buy her out of there (presumably so he can marry her). Maomao, knowing that princess and her proclivities, evaluates him solely on strength and stamina, with a wonderful punchline. That said, there’s also good drama here, such as when Maomao tries to stop a murder meant to look like an “accident”, as well as Lakan’s backstory.

As with the first volume, I can’t recommend this enough. For everyone who say yet another isekai licensed and wondered when we’d get a light novel series for adults – this! This is it!